Thursday, 16 June 2016

Brexit: Communication of Catastrophe

Let me nail
my colours to the mast right now – I really dislike the word Brexit.

Somebody
clever thought it up and now we’re stuck with it.

I’d like to
think ‘it’ will all be over in a week’s time, but of course it won’t. Whatever the outcome of the EU Referendum we
can look forward to millions more words analysing what happened and what’s
going to happen and what might have happened, blah blah, blah.

Now, I’m not
decrying the issue of whether Britain should remain or leave the EU. What gets my goat is the appalling way in
which we are communicated to by our politicians, the news media, social media,
vox pop and so on.

I call it the
Communication of Catastrophe.

I’d rather
watch re-runs of Flog It! than listen to the news and various pundits for and
against telling us just how bad it’s going to be if we leave or if we stay.

Here are the
Rules of The Communication of Catastrophe:

Exaggerate.
It doesn’t matter what fact you have or don’t have, exaggerate it.

Use Emotional Blackmail. Notice that no matter what the outcome,
we’re all going to be worse off – yes, you right now, the person reading
this, is going to be worse off if we stay and worse off if we leave.

When in Doubt, Make It Up. Ever tried to check out one of those
facts that are being thrown at us?
You can’t; they’re not real.
They’re just a whole lot of threatening numbers flung at us to
prove or disprove a point of view.

Use Overblown, Emotive Language. Bypass logic and go straight for the emotional
jugular. Scare tactics work much
better when the language is all bombast and hyperbole.

Do A Trump.
This combines the first four rules and it means simply open your
mouth and whatever crap comes out is just fine. Someone out there will believe it. Make sure you talk loudly, too.

OK, you get
the picture. If ever a lesson was needed
on how not to communicate, they are
doing a grand job of it.

I don’t want
to be communicated to like that and I don’t want to communicate like that.

If I hadn’t already
called it the Communication of Catastrophe, I’d call it the Communication of
Exclusion. I feel excluded when I’m
talked at; I don’t feel engaged.

Just think
what would be created in our companies if we all used these people as role
models on how to communicate.

Communication
isn’t about catastrophising the issues; it’s about creating dialogue and
allowing a variety of points of view without vilifying those who disagree with
you.

Most of us
struggle with communication at some point – it might be about delivering a
difficult message or managing your own or someone else’s conflict. It might be about a team communicating
remotely and how easy it is for things to get missed. Or even a team all sitting in the same room –
things still get missed.

The list is
endless of ways in which communication can go awry and the last thing that
would help resolve these concerns is for anyone to emulate the Communicators of
Catastrophe that invade our homes on a seemingly non-stop basis.

So here are
my Anti Catastrophe Rules.

Listen. And
when you’re finished listening, listen some more.

Have an opinion but don’t shove it down people’s
throats. It’s an opinion, not
gospel.

Allow other’s their opinions too, without making
them wrong.

Always look for common ground so you have something
to build upon.

Be willing to let go your picture of how things
should be, so others can have a win.

OK, you get
the picture. Notice how much quieter and
calmer it is reading those rules as opposed to the first set.

Effective
communication is one of the greatest skills we can have to create
collaborative, collegiate, open places to work.
Home life is a lot better, too, the more thoughtful our communication.